AT LEAST 14 people have been killed by flooding and landslides from heavy rain across the Caribbean basin, as Tropical Storm Matthew lashed water-logged Central America overnight.

Central America alone is in the midst of one of the most intense rainy seasons in the past 60 years. Flooding and landslides have killed more than 300 people, left tens of thousands homeless and caused billions of dollars in damage in recent months.

Matthew made landfall in northern Nicaragua on Friday, forcing tens of thousands to evacuate. The storm then dumped heavy rain as it marched across northern Honduras, but weakened overland and overnight broke up into a tropical depression over Belize, the US National Hurricane Centre reported.

"Additional weakening is anticipated and Matthew is forecast to dissipate over Central America in the next day or two."

Yet the storm's torrential rainfall - up to 38cm in isolated areas - will remain a serious threat to Central America even after Matthew sheds its storm status, the NHC warned.

It said the rainfall could produce "life-threatening flash floods and mudslides" across the region, including southern Mexico, which has already suffered from historic rainfall and flooding this year.

The storm had drenched Nicaragua and Honduras earlier yesterday, but there were no initial reports of casualties, though 15 people were reported missing after boarding a sailboat off the coast of Honduras.

However in Haiti, an unrelated freak storm late on Friday killed at least five survivors of the devastating January quake living in a Port-au-Prince tent city. The storm wounded dozens as it blasted through the capital, tearing down shabby tent homes, trees and power lines.

And in Venezuela, President Hugo Chavez called on his country to remain on alert after seven members of a family were killed in flooding in a Caracas slum triggered by heavy rain late on Friday. Another person, a 70 year-old man, was swept away by a swollen river in the northeastern state of Sucre, officials said.

Fearing swollen rivers, some 34 families in Guatemala were evacuated from near the Sis river and rushed to emergency shelters. The hardest-hit Guatemalan city up to now was Puerto Barrios, on the Caribbean, where Mayor David Pineda reported heavy flooding and knocked-down trees.

The Miami-based NHC warned that Matthew could produce 15 to 25cm of rainfall over portions of Honduras, Belize, Nicaragua and Guatemala, with isolated amounts of 38cm possible.

"These rains could produce life-threatening flash floods and mudslides," the NHC said in a bulletin.

There have been no reports of victims or serious damage in Honduras, though the Honduran Government expanded a red alert nationwide because Matthew threatened all 18 departments.

Randolfo Funez of the national emergency commission pointed to high water levels in rivers, noting that the soil was already highly saturated from frequent rains since Tropical Storm Agatha made landfall in May.

Some 10,000 Miskito Indians living on Nicaragua's Caribbean coast were evacuated ahead of the storm, said Civil Defence chief Mario Perezcassar. Another 5000 were evacuated to temporary shelters from areas in Nicaragua at risk of flooding.

The remnants of Mathew are expected to rumble into southern Mexico - already devastated by historic flooding this year - late today or early on Monday.

A NOTE ABOUT RELEVANT ADVERTISING: We collect information about the content (including ads) you use across this site and use it to make both advertising and content more relevant to you on our network and other sites.